The Bruges issue
Walking Langestraat and Hoogstraat in east Bruges
At the east end of Bruges, two streets hold two Michelin stars, a 1428 copy of the Holy Sepulchre, a working lace school and a tap room trading since 1515.
By Marit HendriksSlow days through the canals
Langestraat ends at Kruispoort, one of only four surviving 14th-century gates, where the street crosses the water onto the green rampart park. Two of the city's Michelin stars are on the same street. Two minutes north of the gate, the one windmill on the ramparts still grinding grain sits on its earthen mound.
Kruispoort and the ramparts mill
Kruispoort (eastern end of Langestraat) stops the street dead. Two squat round brick drum towers with conical slate caps stand either side of a low arched passage, and Langestraat runs through it, over the water, onto the green rampart park. The monument is public and free at street level, and the interior towers are not routinely open. Coaches and walking groups stop here constantly.
The 6 km Vesten rampart walk and its four windmills begin at the gate. Start here if you want the ramparts before the museums. Come back after dark, when the gate is floodlit.
Sint-Janshuismolen (Kruisvest, two minutes north of Kruispoort) is a black timber post mill on a grassy earthen mound, four white-latticed sails above a steep external wooden stair that climbs to the body of the mill. Of the four mills on the ramparts, this is the one still grinding grain. Adult entry is €5. It opens 1 April to 2 November and shuts on Mondays, so a winter visit means looking at it from outside. The stair is steep and the interior is tight.
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Jeruzalemkerk, the Lace Centre and the Folk Museum
Adornesdomein & Jeruzalemkerk is a 1428 pilgrim's copy of the Holy Sepulchre, and the descendants of the family who built it still own it. Squat brick walls carry an Eastern-looking lantern tower topped by an onion dome, an orb and a cross. Inside are a black marble tomb slab and, through a low tunnel, a crypt copy of Christ's sepulchre. The founding family's almshouses stand around the chapel. Adult entry is €11, parties of 15 or more pay €9 each, and guided visits can be booked. It closes on Sundays.
Kantcentrum (Lace Centre) (beside the Jeruzalemkerk) works out of a restored red-brick former lace school. Upstairs, women work bobbin lace by hand on round pillows bristling with pins under angled lamps. Demonstrations run Monday to Saturday, 14:00 to 17:00. Come in the afternoon or you see the rooms without the makers. Adult entry is €8, or €6 for parties of 15 or more, and €13 covers the Lace Centre and the Folk Museum together. Buy the combined ticket at whichever of the two you reach first. It closes on Sundays.
Volkskundemuseum (Folk Museum) occupies eight 17th-century almshouses, a long row of single-storey whitewashed cottages with shuttered windows round a courtyard garden. Each door opens onto one reconstructed room of ordinary Flemish life: a cobbler's bench, schoolroom desks, sweet shop jars. The in-house tavern, De Zwarte Kat, is a working brown-café tap room and pours you a beer mid-visit. Adult entry on its own is €8. It closes on Mondays, and on Tuesdays in winter.
Sint-Annakerk has a single-nave baroque interior behind a plain brick exterior. Dark oak panelling lines the walls with confessionals inset into it, a black-and-white marble rood screen crosses the church, and an enormous Last Judgement canvas fills the west wall. That canvas is the largest single painting in the city. Entry is free and you walk straight in. It opens daily, 13:00 to 17:00, and is almost always empty. The parish still uses it, so keep your voice down.
These four fit one afternoon in order: the church from 13:00, the lace demonstrations from 14:00, the chapel and the almshouses around them.
Two Michelin stars on Langestraat
Zet'Joe by Geert Van Hecke (Langestraat) is Van Hecke cooking at the scale he wants after holding three stars at De Karmeliet. The room behind the narrow townhouse front is pale and understated, white linen on widely spaced tables, and Van Hecke often works the pass himself. Menus run €128 to €193, and à la carte mains €67 to €107. It closes Sunday and Monday, and for the first three weeks of January.
Sans Cravate (far end of Langestraat) is Henk van Oudenhove's "no tie" star, serious cooking without the hush. Bare brick walls and pastel tones surround a part-open kitchen staged like a theatre, the chefs in full view, with a modernist fireplace and bold contemporary ceramics. Six- and seven-course set menus come at the top price band (€€€€). It opens Monday, Friday and Saturday for lunch and dinner, and closes Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday. Book well ahead for those three days. Of the two stars, it is the only one open on a Monday.
Rock-Fort and Franco Belge
Rock-Fort (Langestraat 15/17) is the address that started Langestraat's reputation. The room is tiny and dark-toned: a long bar counter facing the open kitchen, blackboard specials, a handful of closely packed tables. Lunch starts at €30 and dinner at €50. Parties above six are difficult in a room this size. Book days ahead, and note it closes Sunday and Monday. The same door also runs the Barsalon/Bar Law counter, so book under the name you actually want.
Franco Belge (Langestraat 109) is Tomas Puype's bistro, the middle price between the stars and the bars, and Michelin-recommended. Tall shopfront windows light a corner room of dark panelled walls, bentwood chairs and marble-topped tables, with the kitchen visible at the back. Lunch menus are €37 to €42 and dinner menus €67 to €79. It closes Sunday, Monday and Thursday evening. Friday and Saturday need booking.
Bars on Langestraat
Café Vlissinghe has traded since 1515. The tap room is blackened wood panelling, scrubbed long tables, oil paintings and a cast-iron stove, and the walled back garden has a pétanque strip under the trees. New operators took over in spring 2026, and the name, the stove and the court all survived the handover. Beers run €4 to €6. It closes Monday and Tuesday. In summer, sit out in the garden.
De Kelk (Langestraat) is a century-old pub turned beer-and-rock room. Sixteen taps run along a worn counter, gig posters paper the walls, and a small stage room sits through the back. Beers run €4 to €7. It opens at 17:00 and closes Sunday and Monday. Weekend gigs are the busy nights, and you can walk in without booking.
Retsin's Lucifernum is Willy Retsin's self-declared vampire house, a former Masonic lodge lit red and by candle, hung with his own paintings and part-animal sculptures, opening onto a lantern-strung courtyard. Retsin admits you himself, Friday to Sunday evenings, for a couple of hours. The €15 covers entry with a cocktail or a drink. He pours rum cocktails, and tango is sometimes played live. Small groups only, strictly on the host's terms, because this is one man's living room and a stag party will not get through the door.
Shopping on Langestraat and Hoogstraat
Cherry Picker Record Store (Langestraat, across the street from De Kelk) puts records and a glass of wine in one narrow room. Crates of vinyl run along a wall for flipping through, a turntable sits behind the counter, and a short bar has stools. Wine by the glass is €5 to €9. Record prices vary.
Frida Simone (Hoogstraat 42) is Lisa Vaneeckhout's authenticated vintage: colour-blocked rails, designer handbags on open shelves, 1970s furniture and bright ceramics used as display. The buying is heavy on Dries Van Noten and Raf Simons, there is a men's section, and Dior and Prada sit at the top end. Prices run €€ to €€€€. It opens Wednesday to Saturday, 11:00 to 18:00, and no other day.
Where to stay on Hoogstraat
Grand Hotel Casselbergh (Hoogstraat) runs through three joined historic step-gabled houses overlooking the Groenerei canal, with a spa and sauna set into the original vaulted brick cellars. It has 118 rooms, several meeting rooms and 40 parking spaces. The Burg is 150 m away, and Langestraat's restaurants are a flat 10-minute walk east. Rates sit in the mid-to-upper four-star band (€€€) and are highest Friday to Saturday and in summer.
Opening days and booking
Sunday shuts Adornesdomein, the Lace Centre, Zet'Joe, Sans Cravate, Rock-Fort and Franco Belge, and Monday shuts Sint-Janshuismolen, the Folk Museum, Café Vlissinghe and De Kelk. Book Zet'Joe, Sans Cravate, Rock-Fort and Franco Belge before you travel, and check the mill's season if you are coming in winter.
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Gallery
Langestraat & Hoogstraat in pictures
Langestraat & Hoogstraat — your questions
Which restaurants on Langestraat have a Michelin star?
Two. Zet'Joe, by Geert Van Hecke, does menus at €128 to €193 and à la carte mains at €67 to €107, and closes Sunday, Monday and the first three weeks of January. Sans Cravate, at the far end of the street, serves six- and seven-course set menus and opens only Monday, Friday and Saturday, for lunch and dinner.
When can I watch lacemakers at work at the Kantcentrum?
Demonstrations run Monday to Saturday, 14:00 to 17:00. The Lace Centre closes on Sundays. Adult entry is €8, €6 for parties of 15 or more, or €13 combined with the Folk Museum.
Can I go inside Sint-Janshuismolen in winter?
No. The mill opens 1 April to 2 November and shuts on Mondays, so from November to April you see it only from outside. Adult entry is €5 in season, and the stair up to the body of the mill is steep.
What is open on a Sunday in this part of Bruges?
Sint-Annakerk opens daily, 13:00 to 17:00, free. Retsin's Lucifernum opens Friday to Sunday evenings for a couple of hours, €15 with a drink. Adornesdomein and the Lace Centre close on Sundays, as do Zet'Joe, Sans Cravate, Rock-Fort and Franco Belge.
How do I get into Retsin's Lucifernum?
Turn up on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday evening, during the couple of hours it opens. Willy Retsin, the owner, lets you in himself, and he takes small groups only: it is his house, and he will turn a stag party away.
